If you’re looking to get rid of that itchy feeling you expererince after taking showers, look no further. It turns out that the water you use might be the cause of all your dermatological woes. Excluding the fact that you may be allergic to the soap you use, it’s possible that your house suffers from hard water.

Hard water is caused by dissolved minerals in the water. It’s not your fault – many cities across the United States have hard water. The minerals enter the water when it is deep underground. They dissolve in the water and get carried with it when it is sucked into the utility from wells. This is the reason why you may see white spots where drops of water have dried.

Many places in America have this issue. Towns in the Southwest that get their water from desert sources such as the Colorado River will typically suffer from hard water. Symptoms of hard water include the following:

· itchy skin after a shower

· not feeling clean after washing with soap

· greasy feeling, dull hair

· having to use more soap than normally required

· ring around the tub or toilet

· appliances such as water heaters having to be repaired or replaced due to limescale

The minerals in the water can solidify inside of pipes and home appliances, such as water heaters. This means the heater will quite literally solidify over time as more and more solids get trapped. Sometimes it cannot be repaired and will require total replacement. Refrigerators often suffer from hard water as well.

Short of moving to a different state the only way to clean up hard water is to use a water softener.

Water softeners remove the dissolved solids by passing them through a ion-exchange resin. The salt reacts with the minerals to get rid of them and instead replaces them with a small amount of sodium. The sodium added from water softeners is very negligible and should not be a concern for anyone on a salt-restricted diet.

You might notice that when you shower the water feels more slippery than usual. This is due to the fact that you became used to the heavily laden mineral water prior to the purification process. This is a normal feeling to have, and serves as a good sign that the device is working correctly.

A key benefit of using a water softener is that it takes away minerals that can calcify, or solidify, inside of pipes. If this happens, build-up can become so great that it can cause a leak by breaking the plumbing. Small leaks and even total blockages are common in areas with very hard water.

The best cure is prevention. This is the number one way to prevent these sorts of problems. By softening water before it enters your home’s plumbing you can ensure that costly repairs won’t be necessary.

Of course using a softener is completely safe. In fact, it’s desirable for maintaining a healthy lifestyle because over time those same minerals that end up on your shower curtain can end up inside of you in quantities that could become dangerous.

If you suffer from any of the above symptoms look to using a water softener. They are inexpensive and can save you a lot of money. By preventing just one plumbing disaster, one of these devices will easily pay
for itself.